Casket



June 23, 1936.

R. J. BEATTY 2,044,872

CASKET Filed Feb. 21, 1955 130" INVENTOR.

Passer Julia 56 BY 100 0% ay 147%RNEY.

Patented June 23, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1 Claim.

My invention relates to improvements in caskets and has particular relation to means for sealing caskets and for holding the parts thereof in position.

A general object of my invention is to provide a new and improved metal casket which may be sealed to be entirely water tight.

Another object of my invention is to provide an improved mounting for the lid of a casket both in open and shut positions.

A more specific object of my invention is to provide a hinge and lid mounting whereby the hinge acts as a stop when the lid is in opened position.

A further object of my invention is to provide sealing means for sealing the lid of a casket to the body portion thereof.

Another object of my invenion is to provide a simple and improved flower rack for a casket.

A still further object of my invention is to provide means for mounting a flower rack in a burial casket.

Other and further features and objects of the invention will be more apparent to those skilled in the art upon a consideration of the accompanying drawing and following specification, wherein is disclosed a single exemplary embodiment of the invention, with the understanding however, that such changes may be made therein as fall within the scope of the appended claim without .departing from the spirit of the invention.

In said drawing:

Figure 1 is a view in perspective of a casket embodying my invention.

Figure 2 is an end elevational view of the casket with portions broken away to better show the sealing means.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary view in perspective of the flower rack and the flower rack mounting means. Portions have been broken away to better show the structure; and

Figure 4 is a fragmentary view in perspective of the flower rack mounting means.

The main body portion of a casket constructed according to an embodiment of my invention comprises three sheets of metal, one large rectangular sheet forming the side walls l0 and the bottom Him and the other two sheets forming the end walls H. The large rectangular sheet is bent up at each side forming a box having side walls I0 and bottom Illa, and is, of course, open at the ends and top. Near the top of each side wall I0 I provide wooden rails I2 which may be fastened on the outside of the metal side walls It by means of bolts or screws (not shown). The side walls N! are then bent outwardly and downwardly around these wooden rails l2 covering all sides except the bottom. These metal covered wooden members l4 may be termed the upper frame. In order to provide means for fastening an ornamental flange at the bottom of each side wall H] I provide wooden rails 13 which may be fastened on the outside of the metal side walls [0 by means of bolts or screws (not shown). These wooden rails l3 are covered with sheet metal on their bottom sides and which sheets are bent up along the outer side and then bent inwardly at an angle I 3a to the side walls ID. The metal of these ornamental base flanges or rails may be welded to the side walls and to the bottom at their common edges.

The end walls II are built up from a substantially square sheet of metal, the metal being cut to a width to fit the open ends of the box formed by the bottom and side walls. At the top of the ends walls H the metal is bent outwardly and downwardly in a manner similar to the side walls H1 except that the wooden rail members I3 are not used on the ends. The ornamental base is provided at the bottom of each end wall II as previously described for the side walls I0. These bent down portions I! of the end walls which may be considered a part of the upper frame project on each side slightly beyond the upper frames M of the side walls as indicated at l8 to serve as a rest or support for the heavy lid when it is in open position and also as guides for the hinges. The projecting portions l8 are preferably beveled as at I9.

It can readily be seen that, if the edges are welded or otherwise fastened together, a sheet metal burial casket of the type described can be constructed very easily and without a great amount of expense.

The lid 2! may be constructed in any desired manner but I preferably utilize a rectangular wood frame 22 which is of a size to be flush with the upper frame of the body portion of the casket and is completely covered with sheet metal. At a point near the inner edge of the frame the lid is concave as shown at 23. Triangular-shaped indentations 24 are constructed in the concave portion 23 of the lid for the sake of appearance. The lid 2| is hinged to the main body portion of the casket by a pair of U-shaped members 26. The upper ends of the U-shaped member 26 are fastened rigidly at the outer ends of the rear face of the lid 2|. These hinge members 26 pass through suitable openings in the projecting portions [8 of the bent down members ll. These U-shaped hinge members are so curved that when the lid is raised in open posi-- tion, that is slightly over 90, the lower ends 2'! of the hinge members bear against the lower side of the bent down members I! and will hold the lid in an open position.

I provide a plurality of embedded nuts 28 on the inner side of the lid 23. These nuts 28 are embedded in the wood of the frame 22 and suitable holes are provided in the sheet metal covering so that bolts 29 may be passed up through Openings 3! in the upper frame l3 and through suitable holes in the sheet metal covering of the upper frames. These holes are coincident with the holes in the lid frame covering. The bolts 29 have nuts 32 placed on them and these nuts 32 turn with the bolt 29 in the openings 3|. The bolts 29 are threaded into the stationary embedded nuts 28 by means of a socket wrench or like tool and continued turning draws the nuts 23 and 32 together very securely clamping the two sheet metal surfaces of the bottom of the lid to the top of the upper frame. The feature of this means for clamping the lid to the main body of a burial casket is that all clamping means are hidden and even if the wood rots out the clamping means remains intact.

Often it is desired to cover the burial casket at the foot thereof with a flower rack. I therefore provide an improved rack for this purpose.

The rack frame shown in Figure 3 is com prised of a plurality of inverted flattened U- shaped wires 33 running across the width of the casket. The U-shaped wires 33 are soldered or otherwise fastened to wires 34 running lengthwise of the casket. These wires 34 are curved at the rear of the casket in the same manner as wires 33, giving the rack frame a rounded appearance on three sides. The rack frame is covered with a padding 3B and a sheet of water proof cloth 3'! is stretched over the padding. The latter is provided to prevent stains caused by placing wet flowers on the rack. The U-shap-ed wires 33 are bent at the ends in a roughly inverted L-shape 38 to form a seat for the rack on the wooden lining of a wooden-metal casket or if the casket sides are all metal I provide a simple mounting for the rack. This mounting is shown in Figure 4. Small metal clips 39 are welded or otherwise fastened on to the sides of the casket 12 at suitable intervals along the casket. These c-lips 39 slidably receive wooden strips 4| on which the rack mounting means 42 is fastened.

It is apparent that modifications may be made by those skilled in the art and that such modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention as set forth in the appended claim.

I claim as my invention:

In a sheet metal casket, a body portion of built-up construction comprising end walls and side walls and bottom, the end walls and side walls having portions bent out and around Wooden pieces to form an upper frame, a lid formed with inwardly extending flanges enveloping wooden side and end pieces, a plurality of nuts embedded in the wooden side and end pieces a of the lid, corresponding nuts and bolts engaged in the side and end members of the body portion and passing up through the upper frame and the flanges of the lid to cooperatively engage the nuts embedded in the wooden member of the 3 lid so that the adjacent sheet metal portions of the lid and body will be held tightly between the nuts in the upper frame and the nuts in the lower frame.

ROBERT JAMES BEATTY. 

